Air cleaner



March 28, 1961 M. s. FAlN 2,976,558

AIR CLEANER Filed June 24, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. MITCH ELL 8.FAIN March 28, 1961 M. s. FAIN 2,97

AIR CLEANER Filed June 24, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. 2

IN V EN TOR.

Mum H1, H1; 'XJTCHELI- PAW J fl w/4Q c U9 ATTORNEY at m .U i d States Pa AIR CLEANER Mitchell S. Fain, Salisbury, N.C., assignor to GrinneliCorporation, Providence, R.I., a corporation of Delaware Filed June 24,1959, Ser. No. 822,652

Claims. (Cl. 15-312) This invention relates to an improvement in loomcleaners and more particularly to an improved air cleaner and moistureevaporator for placement over the intake of a loom cleaner blower.

In cleaning looms and the cloth being woven thereby it has been foundthat under certain conditions of lint particle content in the weave rooma loom cleaner blower when passing over a loom during its cleaningoperation will, at times, draw in lint laden air and blow the particlesof lint down on the warp and cloth thus causing imperfections in thecloth being woven. The condition under which the above mentionedsituation occurs is one where the yarn being processed sheds a greatdeal of lint during the weave operation and the blower unit passingoverhead has a sufiiciently powerful airstream to blow this lint fromthe cloth and loom and swirl it up into the upper reaches of the room asthe airstream rebounds from the floor and machinery.

In weave rooms which have spray nozzles for controlling humidity, thesenozzles are usually located near the ceiling of the room. The blowerunits, during their operation, are normally run on a track also placednear the ceiling. Many times the track will lie in close propinquity tothe nozzles resulting in a situation Where the humidifier nozzles may bedischarging a spray of water just as the cleaner passes. A certainamount of this spray is therefore likely to be drawn into the'intake ofthe cleaner blower, then discharged in the form of droplets, with theairstrearn, upon the materials and machinery below and thereby impairthe quality of the cloth being produced.

An object of the present invention is to provide an improved easilymaintained cleaning system for a weave room.

Another object is to provide a cleaner of the class described whichconstantly rotates during its operation.

Still another object is to provide a rotating air cleaner of the classdescribed which may be easily cleaned.

A further object is to provide an air cleaner of the class describedwhich will aid in maintaining even humidification in a weave room andprevent the blowing ofwater droplets by a loom cleaner blower.

These and other objects will become apparent from the followingdescription of a preferred embodiment of my invention and the annexeddrawing in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective showing a loom cleaner blower with theattached air-cleaner and a brush station for removing lint from saidcleaner.

Figure 2 is an enlarged cross section of the cleaner and a portion ofthe blower;

Figure 3 is an enlarged view of the brush arrangement.

Referring now in detail to the drawings in which like numbers refer'tolike parts, the loom cleaner blower unit is indicated by numeral 1 andconsists of a casing 2 enclosing, the blower wheel 3 which is connectedto a drive motor, preferably an induction motor (not shown). At thebottom of the casing is outlet nozzle 4 for direct- Patented Mar. 28,1961 ing a cleaning air stream toward the looms. The inlet opening 5 inthe casing is surrounded by bolt holes 6 through which bolts 7 aresecured to hold orifice plate 8.

16 of foraminous material, such as screening, is placed about saidframe, the result being a rotatable filter drum. At the end of the shaft11, opposite to that having the drum, a propeller vane 17 is fastened bymeans of a nut.

The apparatus operates in the following manner:

As the blower cleaner unit 1 travels along the track with blower wheel 3being driven, air is drawn into inlet 5 and expelled through the nozzle4. As the air enters the blower it must pass through the foraminousmaterial 16.- As it does it deposits any lint and fly carried in theair, on the outer surface of the filter drum. The air, as it continues,impinges on blades 17 causing them, and in turn the filter drum, torotate. As it travels along the track, the blower unit will pass, attimes, through clouds of water droplets being discharged'by humidityingnozzles. When this occurs, the droplets will be absorbed by the lintcoating on the filter drum. The blower unit continuing along the trackwill then pass through portions of the room having comparatively lowrelative humidity. In these portions, the water in the lint on thefilter drum will evaporate, due in large measure, to the rapid rotationof the drum. Thus the humidity of the room will tend to be maintained inan equalized state and the air being blown down on the 100m for cleaningpurposes, will be free of lint, fly and water droplets.

At selected intervals along the track are filter cleaning stations suchas 20 which are composed of brushes 21 appropriately fastened to asupporting rod and so oriented that the rotating filter drum will beswept by the brushes as the blower unit passes. The motion of thefilter, both linear and rotary, permits the cleaning stations to beconstructed and utilized in their simplest form since the cleaning forceis imposed by the filter rather than the brushes. Due to the everpresent pressure caused by the air being sucked through the filter andinlet of the blower, a thin layer of lint and fly will always beretained on the filter surface to act as an absorbant medium for thewater droplets. Of course other forms of cleaning stations apparent tothose skilled in the art, which permit a retention of a thin layer oflint on the filter, may be used in place of the brushes.

I claim:

1.,A cleaning and conditioning system for removing lint from looms andtheir surrounding atmosphere in a textile weave room and forconditioning said atmosphere, said system comprising a motor driven loomcleaner blower movably mounted on a track for pcriodically blowing lintand fly from machinery beneath said track, said blower having a casingwith an inlet and a depending outlet and containing a centrifugal itpellet, a filter drum rotatably mounted on the exterior of saidcasingover said inlet, means for rotating said through portions of saidweave room will absorb moisture from the air of those portions of theroom with excessive moisture in the atmosphere and distribute it byevaporation aided by the linear movement of the blower and the rotarymovement of the drum to other portions of said weave room withinsuflicient moisture in the atmosphere. A

2. A cleaning and conditioning system for removing lint from looms andtheir surrounding atmosphere in a textile weave room and forconditioning said atmosphere, said system comprising a motor driven loomcleaner blower movably mounted on a. track for periodically blowing lintand fly from machinery beneath said track, said blower having a casingwith an inlet and a depending outlet and containing a centrifugalimpeller, a filter drum rotatably mounted on the exterior of said casingover said inlet, a set of vanes within said inlet and fastened to saiddrum to rotate said drum as the air passes through, means fastenedadjacent said track for periodically removing a portion of said retainedlint and fly from said drum and for permitting the unremoved portion ofsaid lint and fly to remain on said drum in an evenly distributed layer,said layer of hot and fly being water absorbent whereby said layer as itis carried by said drum on said blowerthrough portions of said weaveroom will absorb moisture from the air of those portions of the roomwith excessive moisture in the atmosphere and distribute it byevaporation aided by the linear movement of the blower and the rotarymovement of the drum to other portions of said weave room withinsuflicient moisture in the atmosphere.

3. A cleaning and conditioning system for removing lint from looms andtheir surrounding atmosphere in a textile weave room and forconditioning said atmosphere, said system comprising a motor driven loomcleaner blower movably mounted on a track for periodically blowing lintand fly from machinery beneath said track, said blower having a casingwith an inlet and a depending outlet and containing a centrifugalimpeller, means for filtering and retaining said lint and fly saidinlet, supporting arms fastened to said marginal portion converging to acentral hub, an axle extending through said hub, said axle beingrotatable, a plurality of spokes extending radially from said axle onthe side of said hub furthest from the blower and joined to andsupporting a circular frame, said frame being covered by a foraminousmaterial, the frame and material thus forming a rotatable filter drumabutting said marginal portion, means for rotating said drum as the airpasses through, and means fastened adjacent said track for periodicallyremoving a portion of said retained lint and fly from said drum and forpermitting the unremoved portion of said lint and fly to remain on saiddrum in an evenly distributed layer, said layer of lint and fly beingwater absorbent whereby said layer as it is carried by said drum on saidblower through portions of said weave room will absorb moisture from theair of those portions of the room with excessive moisture in theatmosphere and distribute it by evaporation aided by the linear movementof the blower and the rotary movement of the drum to other portions ofsaid weave roo with insuflicient moisture in the atmosphere.

4. The combination of claim 3 in which the means fastened adjacent saidtrack for periodically removing a portion of said retained lint and flyfrom said drum is a pair of brushes fastened at right angles toeachother to sweep the exposed exterior of said drum.

5. The apparatus of claim 3 in which the means for rotating said drum isa set of vanes fastened to said axle within said inlet of said blowerwhereby air being sucked into the inlet of said blower will impinge onsaid vanes causing said axle and said drum to rotate.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED sTATEs PATENTS1,302,716 Sargent May 6, 1919 2,171,248 Berke] Aug. 29, 1939 2,648,396Kirby Aug. '11-, 1953 2,867,289 Sate Jan. 6, 1959

